1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to a method and apparatus for uphauling a windsurfer sail, and more particularly to a sail uphaul apparatus that allows a sailor to use his or her body weight to raise, or "uphaul," a windsurfer sail.
2. Related Art
The sport of windsurfing utuilzes-a specialied surfboard, or "sailboard," having a mast that is mounted on the sailboard by means of a universal joint. A sail is interconnected with the mast, and a boom extends from the mast and about the sail. The entire mast, boom and sail assembly may be referred to as the "rig." The person who participates in the sport, hereinafter referred to as a "sailor," stands upon the sailboard, and while keeping his or her balance, manipulates the boom to angle the sail with respect to the direction of the wind to achieve propulsion by means of the force of the wind against the sail. If the rig is not held upright by the sailor, it will fall into the water. Often, because of the immediate sailing conditions, the sailor will be forced to let go of the rig, or the sailor will lose his or her balance and fall off the sailboard, allowing the rig to fall. The fallen sail and mast lie just below the surface of the water.
In order to raise the mast and sail, the sailor must exert a muscular effort to hoist or "uphaul" the rig from the surface of the water. Uphauling is normally accomplished with an uphaul apparatus, hereinafter "conventional uphaul," attached to the front of the boom at a point near the mast. A conventional uphaul is a knotted grip line that the sailor manually grabs and pulls, hand over hand, to uphaul the sail. The bottom of a conventional uphaul includes an elastic loop that extends about the bottom of the mast to retain the uphaul line against the mast when not in use and keep the bottom of the uphaul line on-board so that the sailor can reach it easily when the rig has fallen.
Due to the large surface area of the sail, the force of wind blowing over the sail, and water overlying the sail, the hoisting force required to uphaul the sail can exceed 100 pounds. Under these conditions, the sailor's back arms and hands are subjected to strenuous muscular effort from uphauling. Uphauling greatly tires the sailor--much more than sailing.
One reason for the difficulty is that the uphaul line is attached at the boom. When the mast is erect, boom height (about shoulder height) is where one would want the top of the uphaul. But when the mast is lying prone on the water the sailor must hoist a 16 foot mast and sail with a rope which is attached 4 to 5 feet up the mast. The mounting of the uphaul to the mast at the boom causes negative leverage, that is it appears to the sailor that the mast and sail weighs more than it actually weighs. Therefore, the first 20 degrees of hoisting the mast (from horizontal, 0 degrees, to vertical, 90 degrees) is the most difficult. Once the mast rises above 20 degrees, or 1/4 of the way up, the force required to raise it farther reduces rapidly.
While windsurfing, many sailors wear a harness around their hips, waist or chest. The harness includes a hook positioned in front of the sailor. Harness lines attached to the boom extend to and are attached, "hooked in," about the hook of the harness to take the force of the sail off of the sailor's back, arms and hands while sailing. Consequently, sailing becomes an exercise in balancing the sailor's weight against the force of the wind upon the sail.
In summary, sailing requires relatively little effort, but uphauling the sail requires great effort. This tends to restrict the sport to stronger participants. The fatigue resulting from uphauling limits the time a sailor can continue to sail. Also, if the wind increases or the waves increase, or if the sailor gets tired far from shore, the exertion of uphauling could cause a serious safety problem. The sailor becomes fatigued and falls more often, high winds and waves increase the force required to uphaul the sail, and the exertion of uphauling more often increases the sailor's fatigue to the point of exhaustion so that he or she can not control the windsurfer to sail back to shore.
Examples of previous efforts at sail uphaul apparatus for uphauling a windsurfer sail and mast include: Fouch, U.S. Pat. No. 5,042,412 (1991) discloses a device for righting a fallen windsurfer sail and mast having a rope that is threaded through a pulley affixed to a point along the mast and above the boom. One end of the rope is attached to a harness about the sailor's torso. The other end of the rope is unattached to any physical point on the windsurfing rig. Both the rope and pulley act as a means for leveraging the muscular efforts of the sailor. When pulling on the unattached end of the rope, the sailor is able to raise the mast and its attached sail from the water using less effort than if no pulley mechanism was provided.
Cooper et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,993,339 (1991) discloses an assembly for righting a fallen windsurfer sail and mast. The assembly includes, but is not limited to, two pulleys. One pulley is affixed upon the mast near the front of the boom and is threaded with an uphauler line. The uphauler line is a rope having both its ends terminate in a single small loop that is to be attached to the sailor's harness whenever it is necessary to right the sail. The second pulley is attached near the lower end of the mast and threaded with an elastic cord having one end tied to a stationary point upon the mast and its other end just below the single small loop which terminates the uphauler line. While the elastic cord is of sufficient size and length to pull the uphauler line against the mast when the uphauler line is not required to right the windsurfer, the cord has sufficient elasticity to stretch for a length long enough to permit the uphauler line to be hooked to the sailor's harness when the fallen sail is to be raised from the water. To right the windsurfer, the sailor grasps one side of the large loop formed just below the upper pulley by the uphauler line, and exerts a muscular effort which, when aided by the pulleys, rights the sail.
Blackmer, U.S. Pat. No. 4,938,161 (1990) discloses an apparatus for righting a mast and sail of a windsurfing rig. The apparatus has a hoisting pole, whose bottom end may, in one embodiment, be attached a point near the bottom of the mast. The hoisting pole's top end contains a halyard mechanism for directing the forces applied to the three attached ropes extending about the windsurfing rig. In the preferred embodiment, the other end of the first rope is connected to the front of the boom at a point upon the mast. The other end of the second rope is loose so as to be graspable by the sailor. The third rope connects the bottom end of the hoist pole to the front of the boom to redirect the axial force component on the hoist pole caused by the hoisting forces on the boom head. By pulling on the unattached end of the second rope, the sailor is able to right the fallen mast and sail. Once the rig's mast is in the proper position, the sailor can initiate the retraction of the hoist pole to its storage position beneath the front of the boom, by lifting the uphaul so as to allow the rig's elastic cords to carry the pole in the absence of any tension provided by the ropes attached to the halyard mechanism.
Taylor, U.S. Pat. No. 4,763,591 (1988) discloses an adjustable harness line that is to be attached to the boom of a windsurfing rig. The line utilizes a predetermined length of plastic tubing that is sufficiently flexible to bend under its own weight while avoiding entanglement on the boom during wind gusts. Attached to the plastic tubing are Velcro strap assemblies which are quickly and easily attached and detached from the boom, and a pull down power strap having a hand loop upon which the sailor can pull down to shorten the harness line.
Weber et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,674,428 (1987) discloses a flexible wishbone shaped boom for a windsurfing rig that allows the sailor to vary the curvature of the sail while the rig is in motion. Each side of the boom has a flexible member attached to a rigid member. A flexible cross line connects the two flexible members and is the means by which the user can adjust the shape of the boom. Pulling on the cross line brings the two flexible members closer together and increases the overall length of the boom. Upon being lengthened, the boom's aft section moves to reduce the curvature of the sail. A harness, worn about the torso of the sailor, can use a hook-like device to engage the cross line and adjust its length so that the movement and body weight of the sailor may be utilized for the purpose of adjusting the boom length.
Frohbach, U.S. Pat. No. 4,418,631 (1983) discloses an apparatus for awindsurfing rig that aids the sailor in counterbalancing the force generated by the wind. The apparatus includes a handle member which is attached to the boom by a pair of connecting rods that are mounted near the handle's ends. The connecting rods are pivotally mounted to the boom so as to permit an angular displacement and rigidly attached to the handle. While the handle member is free to angularly move about the boom's axis, the connecting rods prevent the handle from linear movement along the boom's axis. By allowing the sailor to lean further into the wind than is permitted by a conventional windsurfing rig, the apparatus makes it possible for the sailor further reduce the effective area of the sail.
Ameil, French Patent No. 80 276557 discloses a harness for a windsurfing rig having a strap to apply the sail action to the sailor's back and shoulders, leaving the sailor's arms free. The harness includes a belt that, at its ends, is affixed to the wishbone shaped boom. The sailor can press on the belt with his or her back while a separate return strap ensures permanent contact to the sailor's back.
Biasini, French Patent No. 2575720 presents a lever which attaches to the mast base and gives the sailor better leverage when raising the fallen sail. The uphaul line extends from the boom, over the end of the lever, and the sailor pulls on the free end of the line. This reduces the effort required to uphaul the sail.
Frank, German Patent No. 3004780 presents a strut which attaches to the mast foot and which is elastically attached at the top so that when the sailor pulls on the uphaul line the strut deploys and reduces the effort required to pull up the fallen sail.
None of these previous efforts disclose all the benefits and advantages of the present invention, nor do these previous patents teach or suggest all of the elements of the present invention. However, these inventions demonstrate an unmet need, the need to uphaul the sail of a windsurfer with less effort.